Karnataka’s BJP government found itself in a comfortable position after a state high court judge on Friday upheld the disqualification of 11 rebel MLAs.
Justice V.G. Sabhahit, to whom the matter was referred to after a split verdict by a division bench, said he concurred with Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, who had upheld Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.G. Bopaiah’s October 10 disqualification order.
Justice Sabhahit held that the Speaker’s order suffers from no infirmity and is in consonance with the provisions of Para 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule. “It is clear that the contents of the letter given to the governor by the 11 BJP MLAs would lead to the inevitable inference that the intention of the petitioners was to voluntarily give up party membership. And it is unnecessary to go into other material relied upon by the Speaker,” Justice Sabhahit said.
Counsel for the rebel MLAs said they would challenge the order before the Supreme Court.